Console Corner: Street Fighter in first person, gimmick or genius?

Damien Lucas

Rubbish gimmick or the best thing to happen to video games since the return of Micro Machines was announced?

Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers, the Nintendo Switch version of Capcom’s classic fighting game, will apparently feature a first-person mode that makes use of the console’s Joy-Con controllers.

Yes you read that correctly, if you have a Switch you could be thorwing hadokens in just over a month or indeed the very prospect of it might make you want to get the console if you haven’t already.

Video footage of the mode has appeared online, showing off how it is played.

The mode was shown during a Japanese Capcom TV stream and seems to be called “Way of the Hado.”

Players hold a Joy-Con in each hand, then thrust their hands out to throw fireballs at enemies that appear on screen.

Using an uppercut motion it’s possible to execute a Shoryuken and swiping both hands laterally executes a Tatsumaki Senpukyaku. The goal is to keep knocking out the enemies for as long as possible and build up a high score. Players are awarded points based on clear times and combos.

Although Ultra Street Fighter II for Switch is a 2D sprite-based game, Way of the Hado is 3D and uses assets from Street Fighter IV.

Capcom released a version of Street Fighter IV for 3DS and included an over-the-shoulder perspective option.

From what I have seen I have very real doubts over the longevity and quality of a mode which - if done properly - could be superb.

There was a fair bit of lag in the footage I watched and I was bored watching it after a minute or so, let alone playing it.

Of course these things could be vastly improved before its May 30th release, but I’m very much in the ‘rubbish gimmick’ camp for now.

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